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View Full Version : Does anyone have info on a Hitachi 0A34978 ?

scsiguy72
03-07-2008, 12:15 PM
Best Buy is selling this unit for $139 online only and a few other places have it for $129

Its a 500 GB SATA internal drive. I am looking to put it in my Tivo HD

Any feedback?
Hitachi 0A34978
dwit
03-07-2008, 01:19 PM
Hitachi Deskstar hard drives are probably fine for Tivo purposes. They can be tuned to be very quiet if necessary. It also has a 3yr warranty which is as good as any except for Seagate.

I have a 1Tb Hitachi installed in mine for a couple of months. Totally satisfied so far. It is being used in my den, which is not a very quiet environment, so "absolute" drive silence is not mandatory. That said, I cannot hear the drive. If needed I could make it about as quiet as any drive with the Hitachi drive tools utility.

All that said, I think a WD 750g drive can be had for about the same price(from Newegg.com). WD drives seem to be the most desirable here from a price/performance viewpoint for Tivo. There are no issues with WD drives when used with the Tivo HD.

Western Digital Caviar GP WD7500AACS 750GB 5400 to 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $140 Shipped (click here) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136150)

Many 500g drives can be found in the $100 range.

Thread on S3 & Tivo HD drive replacement experiences:

Have you done an internal drive upgrade? (click here) (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=365088)
scsiguy72
03-07-2008, 02:47 PM
Thanks,

WD seems to be the way to go. NewEgg sells them as Raw drives. Can you download the acoustics management utility directly from WD?
dwit
03-07-2008, 03:19 PM
Thanks,

WD seems to be the way to go. NewEgg sells them as Raw drives. Can you download the acoustics management utility directly from WD?

Yes you can. Oddly enough, the Hitachi drive tools utility boot disk download also works on the WD to adjust acoustics.

ps: When you perform the upgrade using winmfs, don't forget to do the "Supersize" step to utilize the maximum capacity of the drive.
scsiguy72
03-10-2008, 12:41 PM
I upgraded the HD to a WD500 this weekend and it couldn't have been any easier. The drive is quite and runs cool.

The only downside was I couldn't run AM software. I upgraded using a USB cable and the AM software runs in a Dos mode. The USB drive would not load in DOS.

No problem because the drive is so quite I have to put my hand on the unit to feel if its spinning
dwit
03-10-2008, 01:23 PM
Glad things worked out well. As far as the AAM, I think you would have the same issues with the Hitachi drive and tools.

Mind telling us exactly which model you got? I think they had several 500g versions. What was the total shipped cost?

Why did you decide to go with the 500g over the 750g?

Thanks for the update.
scsiguy72
03-10-2008, 01:30 PM
Glad things worked out well. As far as the AAM, I think you would have the same issues with the Hitachi drive and tools.

Mind telling us exactly which model you got? I think they had several 500g versions. What was the total shipped cost?

Why did you decide to go with the 500g over the 750g?

Thanks for the update.

I got the WD500AAKS at Fry's for $129 (no shipping) I borrowed a Friends USB to SATA external Enclosure. I went for the 500 Mostly on price. the 750was $50 more, and I don't have cable or Disk and all I watch is the Networks OTA (Picture perfect BTW) :up:

What are some of the differences between WD models, besides size?
dwit
03-10-2008, 01:42 PM
Oh, I was wrongly assuming you got from Newegg. As far as a retail format, there probably will only be one WD model available. Newegg always seems to have oem, retail, and seeming a couple of versions each.

With their larger WD drives, lately they seem to have versions geared towards peak performance in computers and drives more optimized for cool, quiet AV/DVR operations.

Anyway, regardless how it's marketed, if it's cool and quiet, that's what most want for Tivos.

Anyways, congrats and good luck.
ciper
03-10-2008, 07:45 PM
Why not buy a Sata controller from Fries (29.99), use it to adjust the acoustics, then return it? The return policy is 30 days and they sell a nice Silicon Image 3112 adapter which is fully supported by MFSLive. My desktop had no Sata interface and there was no way I was going to wait for a USB interface to transfer my recordings!

Oh and Frys had the 500gb drive on sale for 94.99 a couple times. If they do price matching you may be able to get money back in the near future.